Lightening Strike Sparks Brighton Home Fire

Lightning strikes early on September 12, 2009 over the gulf of Izmir. Heavy rain is forecast for the next three days over western Turkey AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

Getty Images

LIVINGSTON COUNTY (WWJ) – An early morning lightning strike is believed to have sparked a fire near Brighton, according to police.

Michigan State Police say lightning struck an apartment building on Taylor Road, near old U.S. 23, causing a fire to erupt.

But some in the area, including Kathy Goettsche, wondered at first if it was a gas-related explosion.

“A huge ball of flames just on the ground. It would flare up every now and then, it was just breathtaking, and not it a good way at all. It was very scary,” Goettsche said. “You could see the flames over the trees where we were sitting on the front porch. It’s only a dirt road and there must have been at least a dozen and a half fire engines.”

The fire was first reported around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday.

There were no injuries. Firefighters from Brighton, Green Oak Township and Hamburg Township were on the scene.

The National Weather Service said an uneventful thunderstorm complex rolled through northern lower Michigan overnight Tuesday. While only up to an inch of rainfall was measured, several people reported booming thunder and crackling lighting strikes throughout the night.